alia nods in acknowledgement as the other ranger validates her anxiety, slightly distracted by the indeedee comforting her trainer. she was impressed by how emotionally aware the pokemon was. while her two longest companions, ino and lani, were also attentive to her emotional state, they were nowhere as sensitive as the psychic type. were all psychic pokemon this emotionally receptive? alia wasn't sure - she's never owned one before, neither was she familiar with anyone that did. [break][break]

"that must be difficult, feeling like you have to stay composed at all times." alia speaks at last, blinking in sympathy. she knows a little about that herself - while she knew nothing about life as a royal, years of being the main provider for her family has caused her to adopt a similar mask. she doesn't bring it up, however, both unsure and unwilling to talk about her family in depth. "if you don't mind me asking, what was life like, as a royal?" she asks instead, before hurriedly adding, "you don't have to answer that, if you don't want to." 

[break][break]

a sudden rustling up front saves alia from any awkward tension if elise were to avoid the topic. the younger ranger pauses in her step, tilting forward to angle her flashlight at the source of the noise. her light reveals a trail of small, vibrating stones; it takes her a moment before she realizes that it was the tail of an onix. the noibat glances back at her, ready to launch a move, but alia shakes her head and gestures for them to keep moving forward. 

[break][break]

+ Elise Calcifet skipping onix!

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alia gazes at elise, feeling touched that the royal chose to share something so vulnerable. although left unsaid, alia was no stranger to loneliness either, with very few people staying in her life long enough to be considered a friend. "i'm glad that you're starting to find a community here at hoenn." she tells the other ranger earnestly. maybe one day, she would find her found family in this unfamiliar region too.[break][break]

soft wailing interrupts the two rangers before the conversation can proceed any further, prompting alia to send her noibat to investigate. lani flies ahead, cautiously approaching a couple of boulders that could easily hide a wild pokemon. despite her precaution, the bat gets struck by a blurry grey figure, slamming into the cavern wall on impact. alia gasps from the sudden attack, her concern for her noibat written clearly over her features. the motion slows down enough to reveal that the attacker was a hostile mawile, mouth snapping angrily as it fights to defend its territory. [break][break]

"lani, are you okay?" the ranger calls out worriedly as the purple bat recovers from the taken damage. the noibat hisses in response, although noticeably weaker than earlier. she studies her pokemon for a moment before signaling for another attack, which the noibat obeys with an equally fierce superfang. the two pokemon go back and forth for a while longer before alia deemed the mawile weak enough to catch, and tossed a pokeball at the injured steel type's way. [break][break]

the ranger beckons her noibat over as soon as the pokeball made the satisfying click! of a successful capture. once she inspected the pokemon from head-to-toe and deemed her injuries non-threatening, the bat flies back ahead to lead the way for the two rangers. alia lets out a sigh of relief, shoulders sagging as she admits, "ah, that was a rougher battle of ours. thankfully lani didn't take too much damage from it." [break][break]

as the group wanders deeper into the cave, alia resumes their conversation. "so, what made you step away from your old life and become a ranger instead?" yet another innocent question, although this time it was one that alia asked many as she searched for her own motivations of becoming a guardian of the region.  

[break][break]

+ Elise Calcifet catching mawile :>

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alia watches as the intense brawl unfolds, honey brown eyes flickering from the indeedee to the cubone and back to the indeedee. despite the occasional damage, the indeedee fought with a grace and ease that alia hoped her pokemon would one day also have. [break][break]

after elise attempts a capture on the cubone, alia resumes their trek, flashlight shining warily from left to right for danger. she wonders just how deep the cavern will go - with little to no experience on her belt, she wasn't sure if there were any telltale signs that indicated their remaining distance. they were still relatively early in their adventure, though, so alia saves the question for a little later. [break][break]

"how did you end up being a ranger on top of being an ambassador?" she asks instead. "i can't imagine how busy you are - just ranger training alone keeps me incredibly occupied." [break][break]

+ Elise Calcifet skipping![break]

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[attr="class","credit"]milky